


Some ... modest ... notes

by Aeshna etonensis (GMWWemyss)



Series: Modest Proposals [5]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Gen, annotations for Overseas Readers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-21
Updated: 2014-12-21
Packaged: 2018-03-02 15:55:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2817893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GMWWemyss/pseuds/Aeshna%20etonensis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>NB, please note, and (I believe the phrase to be) heads up. This is simply a set of notes and glosses and a bit of a glossary for readers of the Modest Proposals series who wonder, naturally enough, if they are in fact getting all the jests and references: nothing more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Some ... modest ... notes

* * *

As I am acquiring new readers for a certain fandom, ahem, involving A Popular Beat Combo, M’Lud (and particularly as this is all going on under a secondary _nom de plume de ma tante,_ so that readers are not necessarily familiar with all the Wemyssian tropes), it occurs to me – prompted by a few kind comments from Overseas Readers, some of them I believe Commonwealth (by which I mean, God knows what sort of going the poor Yanks are making of all this) – it occurs to me, I repeat, that some annotations may be of use to those kind readers who are, through no fault of their own, Deprived of the Inestimable Benefit of Being British.

I shall concentrate upon references in _‘In dulci jubilo’_ and ‘We see him as he moved’: in that order.

Here is a [Useful Map](http://streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=408500&y=364500&z=120&sv=longnor&st=3&tl=Map+of+Longnor,+Staffordshire+%5BCity/Town/Village%5D&searchp=ids.srf&mapp=map.srf). Zoom in and out and pan about, and note how near the area is to, oh, Manc and Wolvo and Bradford and Donny and Derby and Church Hulme (oh, wait, they renamed that in ’74: they call it Holmes Chapel now...).

Here are [Useful Snaps](http://www.geograph.org.uk/gridref/SK0763). Explore adjacent squares, do.

_**In dulci jubilo** _

_the Peak, the Moorlands where Staffs and Derbs meet and kiss in righteousness and peace:_ The Peak is [the Peak District](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_District) , and the [Peak District National Park](http://www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/) , the Staffordshire (‘Staffs’: ‘Derbs’ is adjoining Derbyshire) portion of which wholly covers the [district](http://www.staffsmoorlands.gov.uk/) of [Staffordshire Moorlands](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staffordshire_Moorlands) . The _meeting and kissing in righteousness and peace_ bit is of course a paraphrase of Ps. lxxxv. 10, the _Benedixisti, Domine,_ which, in the Authorised Version, reads, _Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other._ Friends of Narnia shall recall, I hope, the words of Dr Cornelius to the young Caspian, upon the conjunction of the planets Tarva and Alambil. The Psalm is one of those appointed for Mattins on Christmas Day, I might add. Here endeth the Lesson.

_a dozen chickens...:_ This is a list of hardy breeds suited to the Peak. The [RBST](https://www.rbst.org.uk/breed-information) may interest you further.

_OBE:_ Officer, [Order of the British Empire](http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchUK/Honours/OrderoftheBritishEmpire.aspx). The next step up, Commander in the Order, has the post-nominals CBE. The Honours List is put out twice a year: at the New Year, and on the Official Birthday of HM the Queen. (Supplementary Lists accompany changes of Prime Minister and dissolutions of Parliament – ‘Resignation Honours’ and ‘Dissolution Honours’ – and that sort of thing.)

_Panto … Widow Twankey...:_ Oh, dear. How to explain panto to foreigners. Well. Ah. Firstly, it has nothing to do with mime. And thank God for that (although anything which keeps the bloody French from _talking..._ ). These are fairy-story plays. With the principal boy a girl in trousers, the panto dame a bloke in drag, and as much ambivalent smut as can be stuffed in and remain in principle above the kiddies’ heads. You see: wholesome family fun all ’round. _Aladdin_ and _Dick Whittington_ are common pantos, in the former of which the Widow Twankey is a beloved ‘dame’ character, memorably played by Sir Ian McKellen amongst others. It is customary for the audience to participate, by shouting such warnings as, _He’s behind you,_ and by arguing important points ( _oh, yes, he is … oh, no, he isn’t_ ). It is an ubiquitous Christmas season tradition in the UK and Ireland.

_Charidee:_ A rather weary designation for charity appeals which seem to be more about glitter and social mountaineering and luvvies swilling champers than they are about the actual cause, or spending the dosh raised wisely.

_Remembrance Sunday:_ I really _do_ hope I need not explain this.

_already laid, like Dido –_ thy hand, Belinda _– in December earth … sure and certain hope of flowering resurrection:_ The first reference is to [Purcell’s opera, and its famous aria ‘When I am laid in earth’](http://youtu.be/H3wAarmPYKU) – which is, in an instrumental arrangement, [a set piece for Remembrance Sunday](http://youtu.be/atYaoTminLw). The second comes, of course, from the Burial Service in the _Book of Common Prayer:_ ‘earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life’.

_you_ shall _go to the ball...: Cinderella,_ of course, but, particularly as I was writing so near to the time of [Jeremy Thorpe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorpe_affair)’s death, you’ve no idea how tempted I was to add that ‘Bunnies can (and will) go to France)’.

_They’d be Deputy Lieutenants yet before they died:_ Every County / Unitary Authority / Lieutenancy Area has a [Lord Lieutenant](http://www.royal.gov.uk/TheRoyalHousehold/OfficialRoyalposts/LordLieutenants/LordLieutenants.aspx), HM personal representative within the said borders; naturally, these have Deputies appointed to assist them in their duties of (deep breath in) arranging-royal-visits-opening-new-schools-presenting-awards-decorations-and-honours-taking-the-salute-when-the-County-Regiment-marches-past-patronising-charity-appeals-keeping-the-Queen’s-peace-doing-good-generally....

_lully, lullay:_ From [The Coventry Carol](http://youtu.be/_jIYyPOoEc8) _._

_The ways deep and the weather sharp, the very dead of winter....:_ From, as printed, TS Eliot’s ‘[Journey of the Magi](http://allpoetry.com/The-Journey-Of-The-Magi)’: now, whence Eliot _got_ that line shall be revealed in time....

_in the bleak mid-Winter:_ From the [hymn](http://youtu.be/-BNKmVmfdAo). Either [setting](http://youtu.be/k3FwwnLvELw).

_see amid the Winter’s snow:_ From _that_ [carol](http://youtu.be/0akXeYaHAc4).

_Haddon Hall:_ the secondary seat of the dukes of Rutland.

_Chatsworth:_ the seat of the dukes of Devonshire.

_on a cold winter’s night that was so deep:_ Surely you recognise this, from [ _The First Nowell_ ](http://youtu.be/1mItWsC8RtM).

‘ _OAP Direction’:_ Old Age Pensioners. I believe the term in American is, ‘senior citizens’.

_There are warnings of gales in all areas except Biscay and Trafalgar:_ it is impossible to exaggerate the [importance and omnipresence](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shipping_Forecast) of the [Shipping Forecast](http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qfvv/episodes/player).

_the holly and the ivy:_ From the [carol](http://youtu.be/l7eHtDtZ7hs).

_It wasn’t only earth, in a bleak mid-Winter, was hard as iron:_ references (rather naughty ones) to ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’.

‘ _little one sweet’ and ‘little one mild’:_[Bach’s carol](http://youtu.be/piktJANfPeY).

‘ _It was no summer progress. A cold coming they had of it at this time of the year, just the worst time of the year to take a journey, and specially a long journey. The ways deep, the weather sharp, the days short, the sun farthest off, in_ solsitio brumali, _“the very dead of winter”’....:_ Whence Eliot cribbed: from the [Christmas Sermon 1622 of Bishop Lancelot Andrewes](http://anglicanhistory.org/lact/andrewes/v1/sermon15.html), chief translator working on the Authorised Version – the ‘King James Version’ – and literary giant, master of the sermon that made the bored lords sit up suddenly in the pew (‘Christ is no wildcat’). Bishop Andrewes was the chap Donne wished to be when he grew up.

_anyroadup:_ Wolvo / [Yam-Yam](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Country#Dialect_and_accent) / Black Country for ‘any way’.

_In dulci jubilo,_ beneath the cold, infinite Pennine skies; _Alpha est et O:_ [ oh, ](http://youtu.be/uq_D6iKygKI) [ _do_ ](http://youtu.be/uq_D6iKygKI) [ keep up](http://youtu.be/uq_D6iKygKI).

**We see him as he moved:**

_As matters stood ... Fire and Rescue Authority … Police and Crime Panel for Staffs Police...:_ The public boards which govern the [fire brigade](http://www.staffordshirefire.gov.uk/index.asp) (US: ‘fire department’) and constabulary (‘police department’).

_Fine Gael … Fianna Fáil:_ Political parties in the Republic of Ireland.

_Repton:_ [a public – meaning private – school in Derbyshire](https://reptonschool.fluencycms.co.uk/), nowadays (like Marlborough) mixed, ‘coeducational’. Younger children poised to go to Repton tend to congregate at the associated preparatory school of [Foremarke Hall](http://foremarke.org.uk/). Roedean and Cheltenham Ladies’ are rather grand public schools for girls, and Eton, of course, is Eton. A Voluntary Aided School is a state school – what Americans call a public school – which is substantially funded and partly governed and much influenced by a particular local trust or charity, often religious: Church of England Voluntary Aided Schools are quite common.

_two dukes and the younger brother of a third:_ The (fictional) Charles duke of Taunton and the quite real Stoker duke of Devonshire and Lord Edward Manners, younger brother of the duke of Rutland: the two real persons being neighbours to Our Lads and the fictional being head of their post-Modest management, and all three being OEs, Old Etonians.

_The Garden … Latham House....:_ Houses at Repton. Yes, it _is_ all rather like Hogwarts, my dear Overseas Readers.

_Waterhouses Rural … Moorlands LPT:_ [Beats](http://www.staffordshire.police.uk/local_policing/staffs_moorlands/waterhouses/) and [manors](http://www.staffordshire.police.uk/local_policing/staffs_moorlands/).

_Bostin’:_ Smashing, good, excellent: Wolvo-and-Yam-Yam for ‘bursting’.

_so barking they shared a borough with Dagenham:_ A reference, naturally, to being barking mad and to the [London Borough of Barking and Dagenham](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Borough_of_Barking_and_Dagenham) (horrid place, but that’s London for you).

_Alderley Edge:_ [a tony exurb nowadays for footballers and WAGs](http://www.alderleyedge-pc.gov.uk/); but in its day a place of deep magic, from its legendary Merlin-like Wizard to the novels of [Alan Garner](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Garner).

_Combs, near Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbs:_ A [village](http://www.derbyshirelife.co.uk/out-about/places/the_village_of_combs_derbyshire_1_1632280) just [within the Peak District NP bounds](http://www.peakdistrictinformation.com/towns/showplace.php?place=Combs), and cunningly situated amidst several good golf clubs (Buxton and High Peak, Cavendish, and Chapel-en-le-Frith).

_fell-running:_ A form of athletic madness consisting of marathoning over hill, dale, bog, and fell.

_Three Shires Head:_ A [stunning](http://www.macclesfieldrspb.org.uk/naturesites/threeshires/threeshires.htm) [bit of country](http://www.peakdistrictonline.co.uk/panniers-pool-and-three-shires-head-c10109.html) for [those who do ](http://wildswim.com/three-shires-head) _[not ](http://wildswim.com/three-shires-head) _ [prefer to be at home](http://wildswim.com/three-shires-head) with a book [before the fire](http://walkpeakdistrict.com/three-shires-head/). Flash is the highest village in England.

‘ _Granny’s always ravin’ and rantin’, and she’s always puffin’ and pantin’...’:_ Surely other Muswell Hillbillies [recognize The Kinks](http://youtu.be/lw6qxDPmOGM) here?

_a constable and a PCSO:_ A PCSO is a Community Support Officer. Certain other countries might look into that....

_chicken korma, chicken karahi, ... chicken soup ... noon chai … Liam’s own special holiday cocoa:_ Some people’s favourite passage in the story, really, and I don’t blame them. It’s [comforting](http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/chicken_korma_16352); [nourishing](http://www.desicookbook.com/recipe.aspx?recipe=125); and healing. Noon chai, by the way, is not chai at noontime. [It is a wholly different magic](http://www.lifensuch.com/noon-chai-salty-tea-pink-tea-kashmiri-namkeen-chai.htm). And [Thornton’s](http://www.thorntons.co.uk/) of course is the chocolate of the Peak.

_Boots and Lemsip:_ Loose American translation, I am told, might be ‘Walgreens and Thera-Flu’.

_the Winter of 1947:_[I am not making this up](http://www.mycommunitystuff.com/grindon/grindon-air-disater/). And Duke Ellington did play Buxton Pavilion in 1948.

_Lud’s Church:_ That [ancient](http://www.peakdistrictinformation.com/visits/ludschurch.php), [mysterious](http://www.peakdistrictonline.co.uk/luds-church-c10860.html), and [remarkable](http://www.roaches.org.uk/places5.html) natural rock cleft.

_Lingard of Tideswell:_ The [famous murderer](http://www.derbyshireheritage.co.uk/Menu/Misc/Peters-Stone-Gibbet-Rock-Wardlow-Mires.php).

‘ _Boom Boom’ … the ‘cricket pop’ of The Duckworth Lewis Method:_ [The Duckworth Lewis Method](http://youtu.be/Jf0iy6cgRE4) consists of Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy and Thomas Walsh of Pugwash, the two great Irish rockers who are mad for cricket. Their album _Sticky Wickets_ was the best album of 2013 (having such guest vocal talents as Stephen Fry, Dan Radcliffe, [Bumble](http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/16318.html), and [Blowers](http://www.henryblofeld.co.uk/home.html) didn’t hurt). That CD includes [a song](http://youtu.be/fgxF6zPNl7M) (on which Bumble as it were raps) inspired by the great Pakistan all-rounder [Shahid ‘Boom Boom’ Afridi](http://www.espncricinfo.com/pakistan/content/player/42639.html), after whom Yaser nicknamed his grandson.

_TMS:_ [Test Match Special](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test_Match_Special), which ranks with [Choral Evensong](http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006tp7r) as a sacred broadcast; like _Punch,_ it is forever ‘[not so good as it was when I was a lad](http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/8964991/tms-without-cmj-is-turning-into-a-halfwitted-5-live-show/)’.

_[the] Open University:_ [The only good thing Labour ever did](http://www.open.ac.uk/).

‘ _you’d be a don at Oxford yourself, and I’d be working down the Jag engine plant’:_ A don of course is a professor in the University of Oxford (and the term is used by that place in the Fens as well); the new Jaguar Land Rover engine plant is in Wolvo.

‘ _the council and all banned that for the sake of rare mosses or summat’:_ Lud’s Church is now an environmentally protected area.

_the Church of England’s retired bishop of Rochester:_ Bishop [Michael Nazir-Ali](http://michaelnazirali.com/), a personal hero of mine who ought to have been given Canterbury ( _bloody_ T Blair...).

‘ _his family expected it … complicit in his own closeting until it all went pear-shaped’:_ This is one of the things – because it does happen, alas, as Auntie Beeb made clear in reporting the Dewani verdict – which the [Naz Project London](http://www.naz.org.uk/) fight against. Please contribute to them this hols.

_that place at Castle:_ A place at University College of the University of Durham, commonly called ‘Castle’ in the same way in which Christ Church Oxon. is called ‘the House’.

_Flinders Petrie or Pitt-Rivers:_ The two great British archæologists.

 

* * *

 


End file.
